A New Historical Marker for Caboose Day on Saturday
Join Town Supervisor Kevin Veitch and Town Historian Duane Cornell as they visit Kings Station train depot, at Kings Park in this video.
We hope you enjoy our video glimpse of this historic site and that you will join the TOG Historical Society at its annual Caboose Day on August 9 from 10-3 p.m. You can step aboard our historic caboose or inside the Kings Station train depot and learn from historians about the importance the railroad played in Greenfield’s history. There will be food to purchase and many vendors to explore on the park property, too.
Read more the press release about the unveiling of the new marker here.
THERE’S SO MUCH IN STORE FOR THIS YEAR’S CABOOSE DAY, READ MORE HERE.
Learn more about history and our Town Historian Duane Cornell here. We have a timeline of TOG history!
Facts about Kings Station, by Historian Duane Cornell
- Kings Station was built in 1887 at a cost of $706. It replaced the original depot from approximately 1870.
- It was named Kings after the original landowner Benjamin King. His son Henry was listed as the station agent in 1879.
- The station was originally located trackside 1,000 feet to the west of its present location.
- It was a freight and passenger station with a 60-foot platform on the west end and a short platform on the east end. There were also two sidetracks, called sidings, for trains to pass or cars to be stored on. Lumber, cordwood and grains were some of the freight items shipped from this station along with passengers headed north or south.
- Kings closed as a station in 1933 and it was moved to its present location. The siding remained active until 1973.
- The former train station was used as a residence for a time. You will notice the freight door on the left was replaced with a window and an entrance door. It was purchased by the town in late 1980s. The caboose was purchased and placed next to the station and both were refurbished around 1990 by the Town of Greenfield Historical Society.
- An auto accident and fire in 2007 damaged the caboose and it was repaired the following year.
- In 2007 a group of volunteers including Skidmore College students paint the station.
- Today the station and caboose are considered Kings Park, which is maintained by the Town of Greenfield Parks Department. It is the site of the annual Caboose Day held on the second Saturday in August each year hosted by the Town of Greenfield Historical Society.
For more information about the Greenfield Historical Society, contact Duane at dcornell@greenfieldny.org or its President Joan Rowland at jrowland25@verizon.net. You can visit the society’s website at https://www.greenfieldhistoricalsociety.com/contact.html.
